Erinne Phillips

9/4/21

Dr. van der vat Chromy

Cycle of Socialization Essay

From reading “The Cycle of Socialization” I was most surprised at the section titled

“Institutional and Cultural Socialization.” The article states that when we are initially brought

into society (i.e. when we start school), it’s normal for us as human beings to begin to question

everything that we have learned growing up. We are accustomed to the ideologies that have been

ingrained in our brains since birth, so when we come in contact with socialization, we learn that

we are treated differently from others simply because of things that we can’t control (i.e. our

target identities and our agent identities.) This surprised me because I personally have taken a

step back in my role in society and have had much debate on whether or not I agree with the

ideas that I was brought up to agree with. I knew that I wasn’t the only person experiencing this

phenomenon either, but to see it written down and verbalized was almost shocking.

I was also taken aback by the idea of agent groups and target groups. While reading

through the list of different groups and identities, I realized that most of my identities are target

identities. Giving myself time to think, I tried to figure out why this was such a shocking idea. I

know that as LGBTQ+ young woman of lower-class status, that I do face oppressions and

prejudice. However, I figured out that this fact was so shocking because of how strong my one

agent identity is; being white. Yes, my target identities are what make up the majority of my

persona, but the reason that I had never felt like I was in a target group is because of how

powerful my agent identity is, as unfortunate as that is. This knowledge is now something I must

use, especially as an educator to create necessary change.

 My biggest takeaway from this article deals with what I mentioned in the paragraph

above concerning target and agent identities. “By participating in our roles as targets we

reinforce stereotypes, collude in our own demise, and perpetuate the system of oppression...by

participating in our roles as agents, and remaining unconscious of or being unwilling to interrupt

the cycle, we perpetuate the system of oppression.” In conclusion, if we sit comfortably in our

identities without recognizing the prejudices and harm that are associated with such identities,

we just feed into those prejudices and can cause harm to ourselves and those around us.

The three ideas for the choral classroom that I have transferred from this article coincide

with the ideas of acceptance and support. We can’t be effective educators who guide and teach

against the prejudices without accepting and supporting our students and colleagues. The first

idea that came to mind was a google form given to students at the beginning of the

quarter/semester/year etc. This form will ask for students’ names as noted in the school system,

as well as their preferred name and pronouns, and any other information they feel as though is

pertinent to know (acceptance). The form will also ask students if their preferred name and

pronouns are safe to say around their parents/guardians, other teachers and students (support).

The next idea that came to mind is to be inclusive, accepting, and supportive through

costuming. Regardless of whether my ensembles will be show choirs, “standstill” choirs, jazz

choirs, etc., it’s important to consider costuming that is inclusive, accepting, and supportive

while also being uniform. For “standstill” choirs, I could either have students wear concert black

(whatever that means to them) or find a gender fluid/gender neutral uniform that is flattering and

comfortable for people of all body times and gender identities. For show choir, I could either

create one gender fluid/gender neutral costume that fits all identities or create a multitude of
different costumes based off of the theme that students may choose from based on their comfort

level.

My final idea is giving choice and freedom when choosing music. Most of the time,

educators are the ones that choose the music and the themes for concerts/performances/etc., and

students just sing what they’re told to. A good majority of the time, the music is also one specific

genre, normally composed/arranged by white men which is beautiful, but in need of diversity. I

will give my students the freedom to choose themes and pieces from whatever genres and

composers they choose.

The next steps in my own process of deconstructing my own biases and privilege are

educating myself more on my target and agent identities, coming up with more ways to be

inclusive, supportive, and accepting as an educator, and holding my peers accountable for when

their identities feed into prejudices for others. It’s important as an educator to be as proactive as I

can possibly be and stay up to date so that I can be a model for my peers, colleagues, and my

students and enact change in society.